Album of the Day — November 10
Album of the Day — November 10
R.E.M. — Reckoning
R.E.M. — Reckoning
10.November.2020
R.E.M.
Reckoning
1984
One week after election day, R.E.M.’s sophomore album Reckoning seems an aptly titled album for these times.
After the band’s debut Murmur's success, R.E.M. spent close to a month recording 22-songs with Neil Young producer Elliot Mazer. Unsatisfied with the results, the band returned to Murmur producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter to record Reckoning.
To paraphrase Robert Frost, “And that has made all the difference.”
Released in April 1984, Reckoning picked up right where Murmur left off. Peter Buck’s jangle heavy guitar sound and Michael Stipe’s cryptic lyrics and mumbling vocal approach dominated the album. The songs were punctuated by bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry who helped keep these songs from going off the rails.
And Mills' unique background vocals add a layer of texture to the songs that heightened the power of the songs — check out “Pretty Persuasion” as a fine example.
Like any poet, Stipe’s lyrics on these early albums can best be described as nebulous. The band has admitted that the lyrics on Reckoning are a little darker than they were on Murmur, but who can really tell? Part of the fun of these early R.E.M. albums is trying to figure out what the hell Stipe was mumbling about. It’s certainly one of the joys of listening to Reckoning.
According to producer Don Dixon, “Stipe sang so quietly that Dixon could not hear him on the tape.” It would be years before R.E.M. fans would become privy to exactly what Michael Stipe was singing.
Finally, on 1986’s Life’s Rich Pageant, producer Don Gehman sat Stipe down to discuss his lyrics. According to Stipe, Gehman asked: “What is this? This doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”
Reckoning spawned two singles, “So. Central Rain” and “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.” Through the band’s tenacity, talent, and embrace by college radio, the first single “So. Central Rain” managed to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #85. The second single, “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville,” did not chart.
The album itself peaked at #27 on the Billboard album chart. It remained on the Billboard album chart for almost a year — unheard of for a “college band” at that time.
You may read that and think that’s not terribly impressive, but I assure it was. For music nerds like myself, seeing four scrappy guys cracking the music industry code by making music that was not only relatable (even if you had no clue what the lyrics were most of the time), sounded fresh, and were just damn good songs was really exciting.
To go into the minutiae as to just how challenging this was back then would bore most, so I’ll spare you. However, it would be seven years before Reckoning would be certified Gold (500,000 units sold) despite all the accolades to place it in perspective.
There are some artists today who could record themselves sneezing and sell 500k in about an hour.
In 1984, alternative music was an alternative. Back then, bands like R.E.M., The Replacements, Black Flag, The Minutemen, etc. relied almost exclusively on college radio to play their music. The “college rock” scene was considered by many to be like the minor leagues of baseball, and R.E.M. was the first to be drafted to the majors.
Back then, Late Night with David Letterman was still on the fringes of television. Since the show aired at 12:30 am his core audience was college students. Someone, somewhere, made the connection, and Letterman would go on to serve as kingmaker for many of these bands that defined “college rock.”
The first in line was R.E.M. …they made their network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman in 1983. If you watch the clip, those were indeed different times. The band didn’t play with Paul Schaffer; they played TWO songs, AND Letterman actually interviewed the band …a little anyway.
The two songs R.E.M. performed on that Letterman appearance were “Radio Free Europe” from Murmur and the then as-yet-unnamed “So. Central Rain” that would show up on Reckoning and be the albums first single.
CRITICS:
Robert Christgau gave Reckoning a B+ writing: “This charming band makes honestly reassuring music — those guitar chords ring out with a confidence in the underlying beauty of the world that’s all but disappeared among rock-and-rollers who know what else is happening.”
Greg Kot in The Chicago Tribune gave Reckoning 3.5/4 stars saying the album: “is nearly as mesmerizing as Murmur, with Peter Buck`s ringing guitar riding even more assured drumming by Bill Berry. Once again, Michael Stipe favors sound over sense, his voice conveying color and tone rather than coherent lyrics.”
R.E.M. would go on to become one of the biggest bands in the world. But make no mistake — they worked hard for it.
Throughout the 1980s, the band was put through the old school music industry sausage maker that few come out of intact, some not even alive. Album-tour, album-tour, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. From the time they were signed to IRS Records in 1982 until they signed with Warner Bros Records in 1987, they released an album a year:
Murmur (1983)
Reckoning (1984)
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
Document (1987)
Green (1988)
After Document, the band left IRS Records for Warner Bros Records and a big payday, with the promise of complete creative control. Many disciples were pissy about this, but the band said they wanted to reach a larger international audience, and Warner Bros was better equipped to help them achieve that.
After so many years on the industry treadmill, the band took a three-year hiatus from recording and touring.
R.E.M. would return in 1991 with its huge commercial breakthrough Out of Time.
What makes Out of Time particularly interesting is that it’s a return to the band's original sound …just updated.
Out of Time was made by a band that had matured as artists. They’d become better and more curious artisans …and it helped that Michael Stipe learned how to articulate his lyrics.
Make no mistake, Out of Time has a straight line back to Reckoning.
To paraphrase Robert Frost, “And that has made all the difference.”